Brown Sugar Oatmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (I use regular milk)

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the oats, flours, baking soda, salt and sugar. In another small bowl, beat the egg, oil and buttermilk. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
Pour batter by 1/3 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles form on top; cook until the second side is golden brown. Yield: about 10 pancakes.

*I double this recipe for my family of 6.


Nutrition Facts: One serving (2 each) equals 263 calories, 8 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 44 mg cholesterol, 433 mg sodium, 42 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 7 g protein.

Mini Spatula

This is one of my favorite kitchen tools. The Pampered Chef mini spatula. Anytime I bake treats in a 9x13 or 8x8 dish (like brownies, bar cookies, etc) this is the best spatula to get my treats out with making a mess. It's a great little gift for anyone you know who likes to bake.
Pampered Chef Mini Serving Spatula

Streusel Topping for Sweet Potatoes

If you are not fond of marshmallows on top of your Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes try this streusel topping instead. This should make enough for a 9x13 dish. This is from Cook's Illustrated.

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces and softened, plus a little extra for
greasing the pan
1 cup pecans

Butter the dish. Pulse flour, brown sugar, and salt in food processor until blended, about 4 1 second pulses. Sprinkle butter pieces over flour mixture and pulse until crumbly mass forms, six to eight 1 second pulses. Sprinkle nuts over mixture and pulse until combined but some large nut pieces remain, four to six 1 second pulses. Sprinkle topping over sweet potatoes, breaking up any large pieces with fingers. The original recipe says to bake til topping is well browned and filling is slightly puffed around the edges about 40 min and baking at 375 degrees.
Depending on what type of filling you use the baking time may vary. If you oven tends to run hot you may want to reduce the temperature to 350 degrees.

Creamy Sweet Potatoes

Servings 10-12
Prep Time: 15 min.
Bake Time 40 min.

Ingredients:
5 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cooked
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Marshmallows

In a large bowl, mash sweet potatoes. Add eggs, orange juice, butter, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and salt; mix well. Transfer to a greased 3 qt baking dish. (I used a 9x13 pan) Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until set. Top with marshmallows; return to oven until they just begin to puff and melt about 5-10 minutes.

Thanksgiving Plans

This is a Thanksgiving tip I heard on a Martha Stewart show that I used the year I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Pull out all the serving dishes or pans you plan on using/cooking with. On a little slip of paper write the name of what is going in that dish/pan and set the paper inside of it. That helps you to make sure you have enough pans and it is much easier to just look for the label instead of hunting around the kitchen the day of trying to find them. I also made a time line for myself for when things needed to be prepared and cooked. Then I just followed the plan.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

These are some of the cookies that I use for Christmas treats that I take to neighbors and friends. The orange zest in them is so yummy with the white chocolate chips and cranberries.

1 c butter/marg, softened
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 c quick-cooking oats
1 c coarsely chopped fresh/frozen cranberries (I use Craisins)
1 T grated orange peel
1 pkg white chocolate chips (I like Nestle white chocolate chips)

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, on at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture. Stir in oats, cranberries and orange peel. Stir in vanilla chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 10-12 min or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.

Yield 6 dozen

Thanksgiving Stuffing

I make two batches of this. One goes in the turkey, the other gets baked separately. Then mix the two together after they are baked. This is an adaption of Cook's Illustrated Holiday Stuffing.

Stuffing
1 loaf bread, cubed and dried (leave out overnight to dry)
1 diced onion
1 egg, beaten
1/2 bottle rubbed sage
1 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
2 cups chopped celery
1 cube butter, melted and slightly cooled

Mix together with hands and sprinkle with a little water to moisten stuffing before placing inside turkey. After turkey is baked take the stuffing out immediately.

The stuffing that gets baked outside of the turkey is slightly different.
The ingredient list is the same plus 1 more egg and 2 cups of low sodium chicken broth.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9x13 dish. Heat the 1 stick of butter in large skillet over med high heat, pour off 2 T. and reserve; add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Stir in sage, pepper, and cook about 1 min longer. Turn onion mix into large mixing bowl. Add bread cubes, broth, eggs, and salt and toss gently to distribute wet and dry ingredients. Turn mix into prepared dish. Drizzle with reserved melted butter. Cover tightly with foil and bake 25 min. Remove foil and bake another 15 min til top is golden brown. Serve warm.